The correct way to look at Poker: Why it is stupid to cash in your entire bankroll at one table.

It is often said that you should think of all of your poker play as one continuous session. That is, you should always judge your play while looking at your long-term results. Becoming a winning player requires a certain consistency, and a fundamental understanding of the game and it’s concepts. The beauty of the game is that in the short term, anyone can win and consider them self a good player. A newcomer can beat the most seasoned veteran with the proper holdings and a little luck. Experts understand that over time, luck evens out and making the proper mathematical decisions is what makes money.

While people new to the game often lack an understanding and mastery of important concepts, for example good starting hands, pot odds, and reading opponents, another problem exists where people fail to understand certain forces that exist within the game. Falling into this category is proper bankroll management and the concept of variance. When people are getting lucky and putting bad beats on people this is variance. You can expect people to get lucky and catch improbable cards a certain percentage of the time. Everyone has played a hand where they thought they were a lock for the pot, only to have someone river a hand that had two outs, taking down a monster pot that should have been yours. All you can do is keeping putting your money in with the best hand and making the right decisions and short-term luck will work itself out.

If you don’t maintain a proper proper bankroll that can withstand these normal and expected swings you simply can’t win. Consider this situation: If you cash-in exactly $150 every time you play $3-6 at the local casino, and stop playing if you lose it, you will always be a losing player. If one unlucky hand goes against you, your entire buy in could be gone and your ability to keep playing, crippled.

By playing this fashion, every time you are down $100 you lose $100, without allowing the long term expected results to have their effect, and you completely ignore variance.

You must learn to accept that sometimes people’s unlikely hand will hit, and hope that the person sits at the table long enough so you can let their mistakes catch up with them. How many time have you thought, “Oh that guy is playing like an idiot, he just got lucky.” If you don’t have enough money to keep playing, you never allow your superior skills to achieve their intended results.

 It is generally assumed that a healthy bankroll is 300 x B.B. (big bet) for the level you are playing. This means if your playing $2-4 a healthy bankroll would be around $1200. Of course the volatility of the game you play in and your own style will have implications for your ideal roll.

In conclusion, I urge everyone who plays poker to keep detailed records and notes on their transactions and on their play. This allows you to see your progression, as well as keep tabs on how many big bets you are up or down at any given moment, and allow you to see if your game needs work. If you are consistently complaining about bad beats, it could be due to variance, or it could be due to some other problems within your game. Your notes about your own play will go a long way in helping you improve, which should always be your main goal.